The Streets Ice-cream Boycott Is Over After Workers Reach Agreement

The summer will no longer be Streets-free.

Magnum, Paddlepops and Golden Gaytime ice-creams are back on the menu!

A summer boycott launched by the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) on ice-cream treats made by Australian producer Streets came to an end on Wednesday night after employees forged an agreement for better working conditions.

Streets workers at the company's Minto factory in Sydney's south-west came to a collective agreement with the organisation that will see them receive a five percent wage increase over three years, be able to maintain their current working conditions and rosters and have 39 new flexible part-time jobs added to the company.

"Christmas has come early for Streets workers and their supporters in the Australian community. This is an enormous victory for fairness. We are pleased that Australians can get back to enjoying these iconic Australian-made ice-creams," AMWU NSW Secretary Steve Murphy said in a statement.

The summer-long boycott was created by the AMWU in October after it warned that more than 100 staff at the Minto Streets factory were facing a pay cut of almost 50 per cent if their current enterprise agreement was terminated.

The workers' union launched the national ban after multinational organisation Unilever, which owns Streets, reportedly applied in the Fair Work Commission to end the agreement governing employees' pay.

Since then, Australians all around the country took to participating in the boycott, using the online hashtag #StreetsFreeSummer and avoiding the purchase of famously popular Streets products such as Magnum ice-creams, Paddlepops and Golden Gaytimes.

"Workers have been staggered by the huge support we have received from ordinary Australians," Murphy said.

"The online campaign that millions of Australians participated in has been a source of inspiration for these workers in the face of huge uncertainty for them and their families. Thank you to Australia for getting behind this campaign."

The collective agreement comes after 16 long months of negotiations between workers, the AMWU and Unilever. Prior to Wednesday's decision, Streets workers had also recently voted against a proposed agreement from the company in opposition to a part-time clause.

And while the AMWU activated its online membership in response to the situation by pushing for supporters to flood the Facebook pages of Streets ice creams with comments -- it's now time to celebrate with ice-creams for all.